Calling Caldecott 2014 ballot #1 open

As promised, here is a link to the ballot. It will be open until 9 a.m. Tuesday (EST), and we’ll post the results AND the titles that will move on to the second ballot at noon on Tuesday.

For those who want to think some more before voting, here (below) is the list again. Please go ahead and lobby for your favorites in the comments. You are also allowed to mourn for the books that didn’t make it onto the ballot. But even if you are mourning, please do go ahead and vote! (And also please remember our plea from earlier today not to use social media to drum up meaningless votes.)

Calling Caldecott 2014 First Ballot Titles:

Bluebird by Bob StaakeBoxers & Saints by Gene Luen YangBuilding Our House by Jonathan BeanBully by Laura Vaccaro SeegerDaisy Gets Lost by Chris RaschkaThe Dark by Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Jon KlassenFlora and the Flamingo by Molly IdleFrog Song by Brenda Z. Guiberson, illustrated by Gennady SpirinHave You Seen My New Blue Socks? by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Sergio RuzzierInside Outside by Lizi BoydJourney by Aaron BeckerLocomotive by Brian FlocaThe Matchbox Diary by Paul Fleishman, illustrated by Bagram IbatoullineThe Mighty LaLouche by Matthew Olshan, illustrated by Sophie BlackallMr. Tiger Goes Wild by Peter BrownMr. Wuffles! by David WiesnerNiño Wrestles the World by Yuyi MoralesOdd Duck by Cecil Castellucci, illustrated by Sara VaronOn a Beam of Light by Jennifer Berne, illustrated by Vladimir RadunskyParrots over Puerto Rico by Susan L. Roth and Cindy Trumbore, illustrated by Susan L. RothA Splash of Red by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Melissa SweetThe Tortoise & the Hare by Jerry PinkneyThe Tree Lady by H. Joseph Hopkins, illustrated by Jill McElmurryWater in the Park by Emily Jenkins, illustrated by Stephanie Graegin

Lolly Robinson is the designer and production manager for The Horn Book, Inc. She has degrees in studio art and children's literature and teaches children's literature at Harvard University's Graduate School of Education. She has served on the Caldecott and Boston Globe-Horn Book Award committees and blogs for Calling Caldecott and Lolly's Classroom on this site.

Comments

Lolly, I just noticed that your list here on the blog cuts off the bottom three titles – it happened on your previous post, as well. I was excited to see you included WATER IN THE PARK!

By the way, this is a great list – I’m seeing at least 8 out of my top 10 – but I’m sad that you chose Boxers&Saints over Bluffton… and (some may accuse me of blasphemy) you chose the wrong Pinkney this year. MARTIN & MAHALIA, you will always be my favorite!

1. ON A BEAM OF LIGHT
2. NINO WRESTLES THE WORLD
3. MR TIGER GOES WILD

I know this defies a great deal of logic since I hinted strongly the last post that I was voting for a certain train book… that one just missed the cut, along with BUILDING OUR HOUSE, JOURNEY and MIGHTY LALOUCHE.

Well… none of the above, honestly. LOCOMOTIVE is hands-down my favorite overall book of the year. I adore it and hope it ends up with several shiny stickers on the cover. But once I took a closer look at the list I realized that – based on conversation here, at the Cinci-area Mock Caldecott, and one final brush-up on the criteria – it just didn’t quite stack up to the three I chose. But yes, I DO hope others will vote for it!

Quite a challenge here. There have been many “favorites” published this year, and I am sad that “If You Want To See A Whale” is not here, but a favorite, that will cross age groups, is “The Matchbox Diary.” I know I will share it again and again, for various purposes. Thanks for the hard work all through the weeks!

Well, this is a can of worms it may be a bit late to open…but I’ll bite (ewww!).

Battle Bunny is to me not a very subversive book. What is it taking on, after all? Sentimental grandma traps? Is there such a huge wave of support for sappy stories out there in the children’s literature community that we need to take them out? Battle Bunny is clever and really, really funny for a few pages. After that it seems kind of one-note. For my money Mr. Tiger Goes Wild is far more subversive.

Martha, to be BATLLE BUNNY is the most subversive book of the entire year, but more in the way it deliciously desecrates the physical property of the book. I do think it maintains the conceit throughout, though I agree with you that MR. TIGER is also quite subversive and is the stronger book for sure. One reason the Caldecott committee is highly unlikely to honor Szieska’s book is that the style is so deliberately mangles that it lacks the aesthetic beauty that usually defines the books that end up in the winner’s circle. Same thing with THE DAY THE CRAYONS QUIT–great ides and the kids love it, but nothing special aesthetically.

Regarding honor books–
Oh man! There are just so many ways that can shake down. For this blog, we will be transparent in our thinking on Tuesday–letting everyone know how the votes shook out so that you can see why certain books fell off the second ballot and certain books stayed on. It will all depend on how the voting goes.
But on the real committee, the instructions about honor books are rather vague.

Here it is:
Selection of Honor Books
Immediately following determination of the winner of the Caldecott Medal, and following appropriate discussion, the committee will entertain the following:
• Whether honor books will be named.
• Whether the committee wishes to choose as honor books the next highest books on the original winning ballot or to ballot again.
• If the committee votes to use the award-winning ballot, they must then determine how many honor books to name.
• If the committee chooses to ballot for honor books, only books that received points on the award winning ballot may be included. The same voting procedure is followed as for the award winner.
• If the committee has chosen to ballot for honor books, following that ballot, the committee will vote how many books of those receiving the highest number of points are to be named honor books.

SOOOOOO–
There are many scenarios possible.
1. First scenario: clear winner on first ballot (almost everyone voting for the same first place book) and 3-5 books in second place, in a virtual tie and a few other books will have some votes. In this scenario, the committee HAS to name the winner and MAY name the next group of books as honor books and go back to their warm beds for a strong drink and preparations for two days of saying nothing to anyone about books.
OR, they might have a second ballot to determine the honor books. All those first place votes for the winner are now up for grabs and could go for any of the remaining books. The committee can do what it wishes here. After that second vote, things could change dramatically…or not. Maybe the members will simply move all their favorites up one notch (the book they voted in second place on the first ballot can now get a first place vote and so on) and the same books that were running neck and neck for second place are still the favorites. Then the committee would (probably) just go with those books as honors. OR all those first place votes go all over the place. Or everyone’s (new) third place votes all go to the same book. Or, or, or….it’s overwhelming to imagine.
2. Scenario two: there is a battle for first place. Two books split the vote (everyone votes for these two as first or second place) and further discussion happens. Someone is going to have to change his or her mind in order to find the first place book because a book HAS to have 8 first place votes to be named a winner. And, now that you are voting, some of you can see that your three votes were hard to cast…you really like all of your chosen books about the same and that you could easily switch up the order for the good of the team. Some of you are willing to die on the hill, clutching your beloved first place book and could not imagine ever, ever, ever switching number 2 for number 1. (I imagine chairs of committees are now picturing Someone on Their Committee like this. Maybe it was me. Not telling. Can’t tell.) So, if there is a battle for first place, that has to be resolved. There may be many many ballots. No one is paying attention to the other books, BUT someone is keeping a record of every single ballot. And once first place is found, the decision for honors will begin. Because there was a virtual tie for first, the committee already has at least one honor book–the book that had been tied. In all the voting, most of the votes had gone to these two books. The other votes might easily be spread among 7 or 8 other books fairly evenly. You see where this is going? Does the committee award 7 honors or just go with the winner and the runner up as the honor book? Or do they just keep on discussing and voting? I dunno. Damn, that pit in my stomach is growing, just thinking about this scenario.
3. Then there a zillion other scenarios between these two. One thing I CAN say is that people on the committee do not vote lightly. When it’s all over, there is happiness and pride, but there is mourning for the One Who Did Not Get An Honor. (moment of silence for a book I love and suffered this fate) But, though I still feel sad about That Book, I feel very good about the voting and the process. If you know people who have served on book committees, you will hear them say things like, “I think of the books as a group, not as winners and honors.” You might think they are being coy, but they are not. There can be a whisker difference between the gold medal and the silvers. That’s the plain truth. And if your favorite book won an honor, you don’t want anyone to miss it.

Well, this is quite a “comment.” I could always make a new posting, but I want the ballot to be the important thing, not my ranting and worrying about honor books.

First of all, I’m thrilled that Tree Lady is on the list. Really truly thrilled. I’m a little concerned because I linked to the ballot on my Facebook page because that’s where all of my children’s book friends are. I suggested they vote if they have read or loved any of the books…and of course they can tell I’m excited. If this counts as trying to drum up votes then I’ll definitely take down the link.

Thanks, Robin! That’s a great run-down of the process… made me feel kind of queasy myself. Like you I love honor books. And – judging from the delighted “ooooooohhhhh!” of the crowd in Seattle when it was announced that there were *5* Caldecott Honor books a year ago – you and I are apparently not alone. Just from this list alone I see a dozen books that I have very warm feelings about, that I would cheer and scream and do the Arsenio fist pump if they won something. And that’s not counting the 3-5 additional books (including my favorite) I loved that aren’t on your list! Anyway, fingers crossed… the suspense is killing me!

And I too have that book (in my case it is actually 2 books) that I mourn for from my committee. *wipes away tear

Sam,
I have to restrain myself when folks act like the process is random…or that something besides the BOOKS ON THE TABLE mean anything. It’s only about the books on the table…as you well know. How many honor books did your Newbery Committee choose? Do you start a new committee soon?
Robin

What I find interesting about the Honor Books is that, while there are all these rules about selecting the winners, the Committee is pretty much left to its own devices when it comes to Honor Books. (“Just go ahead and choose some. However you want. Or not. How many? As many as you want. Or as few. Or none. Whatever.”)

I was astounded that we could have given twelve…or fifteen honor books! I wonder if some committee gives 8 or 10 or more honor books, would ALSC change the rules? I bet it’s a wild ride on some committees once the winner is decided, especially since it happens at the end, often late at night, when emotions are running high.

I cannot remember how many hours each Caldecott or Newbery or Geisel or Sibert Committee meets, but it’s a LOT of hours. Does 20 hours sound about right? My memory is that we met on Friday and Saturday from 8-noon, 2-5 and 7-10 or later. I could be making that up.
It’s a blur. I loved every second of it with “new best friends,” as KT calls these committees.

But there are always people on the committee who say, if we give fewer honor books, it will be more meaningful. Perhaps, for the five minute period of time after the announcement, when everyone sees them as a literary co-hort. But soon after that, nobody remembers which committee gave which awards and honors which year. They are all just books with shiny circles on their covers. So the more the merrier, I say.

We had four honors. And I’m with you on your response below: I loved it, too, but I don’t know if I’d say EVERY minute. It’s true, the choosing of Honor books happens when you’re all pretty much zapped of all energy and feeling punchy, emotional and – in some cases – downright hostile. So… yes, fraught with danger. That was a good way to put it!

And yes, in answer to your last question, I have started! I’m taking a break from reading right now, as a matter of fact.

Excellent observation K.T.!!! After time passes everyone does lose site of the number, so the frugal approach is rather foolhardy, not to mention counterproductive economically. Caldecott Medal books sell through the roof any the award is announced and the Honor books also do much better after they are cited.

On subsequent inspection, PARROTS OVER PUERTO RICO is absolutely magnificent!!! As owners of two amazon parrots, we are further fascinated, but nothing can quite match the moment you first lay eyes on a beautiful picture book. Horn Book has really made my day!!!

I share Sam Bloom’s frenzied excitement about the awards.

This year the committee would have to award 20 honor books to achieve full justice:

Journey
The Matchbook Diary
Inside Out
A Taste of Red
Locomotive
Sardines (Berger)
Parrots Over Puerto Rico
Knock Knock (Collier)
The Mighty Lalouche
Mr. Tiger Goes Wild
On A beam of Light
Nino Wrestles the World
Odd Duck
The Tree Lady
Bluebird
Moonday
Who Said Women Can’t Be Doctors (Priceman)
Water in the Park
Building Our House
Mr. Wuffles

Ha! Watch we get one or two like the year when Macauley’s Black and White won, and one of the two honor books was Marcellino’s Puss n Boots. Don’t know if I’d laugh or cry. Today’s library excursion will cost us more money as several of this books simply MUST be owned on hardcover.

Well, it was a mistake to omit Battle Bunny, the most brilliant book of the year. Battle Bunny is just out of this world. No other book can touch it this year, whether or not it recieves the recognition its due.

Merri, it is absolutely brilliant, and I mentioned it myself further up this thread. But it is not remotely ‘aesthetically beautiful’ (in fact some would say it’s ugly even if such an observation is really beside the point) and the voters ten to look understandably for pictorial beauty. That said, I did not find at all that “no other book can touch it.” I found about a dozen books myself that surpassed it. But this is all about taste and perception, and we all have our favorites. Fair enough I say.

I think that Radunsky did a wonderful job: On a Beam of Light is poignant and heartfelt.
Locomotive is astoundingly accomplished and earnest in the best possible way.
Have You Seen My New Blue Socks is perfect comedy (look at the characters’ expressions and body language) and the drawings tell so much more than the text alone.

These are my three favorites.

And I’m sorry, but Battle Bunny to me is a clever joke that doesn’t go beyond that.

Patty, if I might say here I am completely in agreement with you on the gorgeous ON A BEAM OF LIGHT. I found it bizarre that the eclectic children’s book writer who presented her ‘Top 13 children’s books’ of the year chose Radunsky’s illustrations for ADVICE TO LITTLE BOOKS as her #1 choice and never mentioned the far superior Einstein book. I tracked down ADVICE and while it is unique and different it is rather slight and is nowhere near ON A BEAM OF LIGHT in beauty and craftsmanship.

I will have to look again at HAVE YOU SEEN MY NEW SOCKS. The illustrations didn’t do anything for me the first time, but the library loan copy is still at the school so I will look at closely again.

Sam, it’s cute that you wrote Advice to Little BOOKS instead of GIRLS. It says a lot about where our minds are, these days…

Have You Seen is one of those picture books that every time you go through you keep seeing new things. Have you noticed the color blind cow? The fox and the grapes? The objects that the duck throws out of his box and that reappear in the next two spreads? And the colors, the compositions, the line… It’s all beautifully crafted. I think it’s a great example of what an illustrator can do with a simple, nice text and a lot of freedom.

I spent a few hours at my local children’s books store in Los Angeles this afternoon to prepare for voting here today.

I found some extraordinary books that I had not seen before and re-read some that I haven’t seen in a while.

I agree with Sam who stated above that Inside Outside is absolutely ravishing (I think that is the adjective used). What a beautiful book.

Parrots of Puerto Rico I hadn’t seen until today, only read about it and seen images on Jules’ blog (7 Impossible Things Before Breakfast). I had been wowed by the richness of the color, the beauty, the concept. Having seen it, I’m still wowed – it is a wonderful book. I was planning to have it be my first choice now and forever until one of the sales clerks, who has worked with children’s books for years, pointed out (being a self-ascribed bird fanatic) that the illustrator got the feet (talons?) of the parrots wrong. They actually have 2 toes (or digits) in the front and 2 in the back. They are all 3-toed throughout the book. Ack.

I had a hard time not voting for Water in the Park, which I adore, having spent time at Prospect Park in Brooklyn for some years with my brother and his family. Similarly, I saw Mr. Wuffles! for the first time today – and laughed out loud!!!! Delightful book. I loved it. But I didn’t vote for it.

Same goes for Matchbox Diary. I discovered this book earlier in the year, and my son and I read it over and over. I couldn’t quite vote for it, and I’m not sure why. I guess it just slid down the list since we only have 3 picks. I think it would have been my 4th. (Why do we only have 3 picks – did I miss that explanation?)

Nino was my next happy read – also LOVED it, but didn’t vote for it, brilliant as it is.

Tree Lady was so beautiful that I bought it. I loved Bully, and bought that too.

All the rest I either really like, or just had to set aside to vote for these 3:
1. Building Our House – I just can’t let this book go – it is so, so… words fail me. And children LOVE it. My son, or my son and I, read it several times a day for months. We were thrilled when it won the Horn Book award this year. My library classes in K to 3 grades are all riveted for different reasons.

2. Mr. Tiger Goes Wild – we love this book, and I agree with the comments I’ve seen elsewhere on this blog. It is very satisfyingly subversive. Plus, my 7 year old really gets Peter Brown’s sense of humor.

3. It was a hard choice between Parrots and A Splash of Red. I think in the end, after much agonizing I went with A Splash of Red. I’m tired of all books about African Americans ending up not winning Caldecotts but winning Coretta Scott King awards. Sorry to be so blunt.

Thanks again for all this work and love and care and time poured into this blog. It is a joy each year! I’m looking to the results on Tuesday.

– Allison

PS: I commented on another posting that I had a lot of trouble finding this blog entry to vote. It isn’t coming up from various links. I’m worried others will have trouble with this as well.

Thanks for your thoughts.
I too love A Splash of Red. But, for the record, it is neither written nor illustrated by someone who identifies as African American, so it will not be getting a CSK award. (but I can always hope for a Caldecott or Sibert sticker…)
And, I did see your other comment and have let others with more technical prowess know what’s going on. It happened with me when I tried the drop down menu on my phone and iPad too. I appreciate your letting us know.
And, I love your choices!!

Alison and others – I am having the same problem not seeing recent posts. I’ve emailed our excellent web guys and suspect I will hear from them soon, even on a Sunday. I tried emptying my cache and that didn’t help, but it’s always a good idea to try that when this sort of thing happens.

Actually, I think emptying the cache DID work. But I had to close the browser and open it again afterwards. Give it a try. On some browsers this is a bit hidden, for example on Firefox it’s under History/Clear Recent History and you check the “cache” box. On Safari its right in plain site under the Safari menu.

And Patty, at 59 years old senility in encroaching. Ha! But yes, books on one’s mind could be posed as a valid excuse. I have looked again at HAVE YOU SEEN and can corroborate what you say. I kind of sold that one short, which was unforgivable considering it was written by Eve Bunting. But yes, wonderfully detailed and creative.

Allison, it would be a shame if PARROTS were to be penalized because of that technical error. The book is so beautiful.

There hasn’t been too much mention of JOURNEY as of late on this thread, though I would surmise its the kind of book that will always be taken fro granted. It remains in my perception as the odds-on favorite for the gold, and every viewing brings out something new. I’m sure it will be seen as a masterpiece of children’s literature, and its creator as some of the people here surely know is one of the humblest, gracious and engaging artists one could ever hope to come across. What a guy!

Agree! It’s been a great year. And so hard to vote… just heard Peter Brown talk about his technique for Mr Tiger Goes Wild. I love the book! And he’s thoughtful and zany at the same time. The illustrations are great. (But the “subversive–ness” pales compared to the slightly similar plot of The Big Orange Splot by Pinkwater.) Still . . . it’s primarily the illustrations we are talking about here, and I have to vote for Mr. Tiger.

I also wanted to broach the matter of BLUEBIRD as a contender on the ballot. In my view it richly deserves to be here, as it is absolutely one of the most beautiful and moving picture books of the year, regardless of how it used the ideas in THE RED BALLOON. I have state my case for it in the latest entry in my movie-arts blogsite, and I know it has many fans on these pages, as per past discussion threads:

I agree that Battle Bunny is great, but I’m not sure what everyone is getting excited about here. It’s clever, yes (but maybe spreads itself a bit thin by the end) but I don’t see the excellence in illustration that the books on this list have.

Building our house
The Dark
Flora and the Flamingo
Journey
Locomotive
The Matchbox Diary
The Mighty Lalouche
Mr. Tiger Goes Wild
Mr. Wuffles
Nino Wrestles the World
On a Beam of Light
Parrots Over Puerto Rico

If that’s too many, I’d cut Flora, Lalouche, On a Beam of Light, and Parrots. I think the other eight seem to be getting lots of support and/or are titles lots of people can agree on.

My own guess taking into account the approximate number that generally make the cut:

Journey
Mr. Tiger Goes Wild
The Matchbox Diary
Nino Wrestles the World
A Splash of Red
On A Bean of Light
Bluebird
The Mighty Lalouche
Parrots Over Puerto Rico
Mr. Wuffles
The Dark
Water in the Park
Inside Outside

The four books that I mourn for not appearing as nominees on this first ballot are:

Sardines Swim Across the Sky
Dusk (Uri Schulevitz)
Knock Knock (Brian Collier)
This is a Rope (ill. James Ransome)

Robin, thanks for the long post about the honor books process (and for those who chimed in after with committee experience). I find this year it is even harder than usual to imagine the honor books. I know my top two choices (and they are close, but Nino nudges ahead of Mr. Tiger), but after that, there are so many strong books. I love to look at the winning book and honor books in terms of how did this one committee select these books — the variety of books, and to think of them almost as a collection. That is always interesting to me.

Thanks for the info on the tech problems. Yes, cache clearing is good for computers, but like Robin, problem was on my phone. I haven’t checked today. Hope your Techies have sorted it out (just in case it is confusing others). I appreciate the quick reply.

RE: A Splash of Red. Good point about the CSK.

And, I should have given the name of the bookstore – Children’s Book World in Los Angeles. It is wonderful. I count my blessings and say good bye to lots of $$ every time I go.

And, lastly, I loved Journey, but beyond that first breathtaking image when the girl goes through the newly drawn door into the forest, the book is fun, and beautiful, but didn’t do as much for me as others.

LOL Allison!!! I think the all-time record for Honor Books is SIX, but that wasn’t awarded anytime in the recent past. Last year’s FIVE was highly unusual, but this year is stronger than last so you must wonder if they will go places they haven’t before this time around.

OK, I am wrong. There have never been SIX (6) Honor books awarded in a single year. The most is FIVE (5), though that has been done numerous times, including last year. According to the entry on the Caldecott Medal on wikipedia the LIMIT of Caldecott Honor Books is FIVE, so this clouds the perception that the committee can award more in a particularly strong year. But perhaps the same committee (different members but still the same governing body when it comes to establishing rules) that made the rules can alter them. I am not remotely sure how this would pan out.

Thanks so very much for that Allison!!! I would like very much to add tour blogsite to the WitD sidebar ASAP!

My plans are to finish the week with a bang:

Thursday: On A Beam of Light
Friday: Inside Outside
Saturday: The Mighty Lalouche
Sunday: “Water in the Park” and “The Tree Lady” (together)
Monday: Final round-up of the great books that time prevented me from covering fully – That is Not a Good Idea; Battle Bunny; Dusk; The Dark; Mr. Wuffles; The Day the Crayons Quit; Bully; Odd Duck; The Tortoise and the Hare; Mousetronaut Goes to Mars; Crankenstein; Flora and the Flamingo; How to Train a Train; If You Want to See A Whale; Unicorn Thinks He’s Pretty Great Prdeictions will be included in that final post with all the appropriate cover photos.

Thanks again Allison. Please send on that blogsite link to me when you can.

Note: I have read Sam Bloom’s extraordinary review of ON A BEAM OF LIGHT, and after that nothing further needs to be said.

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